PWHL Vancouver’s Hannah Miller relishing time at Canadian Olympic camp while awaiting IIHF ruling

As she sat on a plane bound for Hockey Canada’s orientation camp in Calgary at the end of the summer, Hannah Miller felt grateful.

Back in the Canadian senior national hockey team mix at age 29, after her hockey career has taken her across the globe, the PWHL Vancouver forward felt excited for the opportunity. Being one of 30 players chosen to try out for the Canadian Olympic team, the pinnacle of women’s hockey, means competing with the best every single day.

“I think that’s something that’s pretty special and doesn’t happen a lot of the time,” Miller said earlier this month in Toronto, where Hockey Canada held its second Olympic training block.

“Just trying to not take a drill for granted, basically, because it’s a pretty high pace. You should be able to learn something from every rep out there.”

But there was also uncertainty.

Six months ago, Miller made the Canadian world championship team. It would have been her first time playing in the red and white in more than a decade, when she competed on the Canadian Under-18 team.

Instead, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) deemed Miller ineligible to play for Canada at the world championship. Miller had competed with Chinese Olympic team, including at the 2022 Olympics, as that country tried to build its women's hockey program.

“I’m not going to lie. It was tough,” Miller said about being deemed ineligible to play for Canada.

“I told myself during that whole process to try not to get my hopes up. But at the end of the day, it’s a pretty hard thing to do. I was honoured and excited to be named to the team, and was really looking forward to getting the opportunity to go to [the Czech Republic] and ultimately be with this group and try to help them win a gold